Every once in a while, I have to ask myself ‘what do I do again?’.
The work that I do at Mellem Education lies in the intersection of three types of ‘work’- the spiritual work, the inner work, and the political work. All of these are needed for us to grow personally and collectively.
The spiritual, if done without the others, can quickly become spiritual bypassing or a type of escapism from one’s own or others’ suffering.
The political without the inner or spiritual work can be seen if you open a newspaper – a lot of fear, a lot of division, the eternal cycle of left vs. right. Activists projecting their unmet feelings on the political arena.
The inner work can be a long and lonely journey if it does not connect with the divine. One’s happiness becomes dependent on life’s ups and downs, gains and losses.
This has become clear to me in my work with NGOs or activists, because anyone trying to change the world without looking into their own patterns is bound to repeat their own patterns and project them outwards. Lately I have also been integrating short breathing or meditation sessions, allowing us to connect with the presence beyond thoughts and feelings.
Even when I’m facilitating a corporate or workplace training, these three fields come in. The political and personal, as in how people work together and an awareness of power dynamics that affect the working culture. And even the spiritual comes in, because just to become aware of what is happening in the room allows people to become more present. And where is God if not in and as presence?
I’m grateful that even though the world seems to be getting more chaotic, some things are becoming more clear. I can say things in my workshops that I couldn’t say before. People seem to be more open to the language of the inner and spiritual work. And for integrating these three realms.
It has always been hard for me to categorize what I do, and it changes according to who is asking and what they are interested in. But I see this difficulty as a path forward – that we can integrate instead of categorize, breaking old habits and creating new paths forward. We all have the power to undefine and redefine ourselves once in a while…
Tali